TV Week final episode cover depicting M*A*S*H television show cast. Did you know that the character of MASH 4077th’s head nurse “Hot Lips” Margaret Houlihan was inspired by two real-life Korean War Army MASH head nurses “Hotlips” Hammerly and Janie Hall?

The music starts. The lyrics to the haunting song “Suicide is Painless” play in your head. The sound and sight of helicopters enter and then you are looking down from the helicopters view on a village of tents and red crosses. The television series M*A*S*H, based on the 1970 movie that was set during the Korean War at the fictitious 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital or M*A*S*H, established itself as one of the greatest shows in history. The show was on air from 1972-1983, and it still lives on today in syndication.

The series finale was broadcasted on February 28, 1983 to 105.9 million viewers, becoming the most watched television broadcast of all time. The record held for nearly three decades until the 2010 Superbowl surpassed M*A*S*H’s record with 106.5 million viewers. The show had the ability to make you cry from both a comedic and emotional standpoint striking a unique balance unlike many shows.

But sometimes real life can be as fascinating as fiction. Learn about the real-life exploits of a genuine Army MASH unit and of brave medical researchers fighting tropical diseases in southeast Asia with two recent Armed Forces medical history publications from the U.S. Army Medical Center and School’s Borden Institute.

There are some gruesome pictures in the Vietnam War section, but overall the book is a fascinating read about how medical techniques evolved with warfare practices in makeshift hospitals close to front lines. In 2006, the unit transformed once again to the 212th Combat Support Hospital and was deployed to Afghanistan.

Lt. General George S. Patton visits the US Army 12th Evacuation Hospital (MASH) to award decorations to the wounded. Patton would later infamously get in trouble for slapping a soldier at another World War 2 hospital who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or combat stress reaction (CSR), which was called shell shock starting in WW 1. (Photo courtesy U.S. Army Medical Department, Office of Medical History)

The photos in the book look like scenes out of the M*A*S*H television series; you can picture Radar turning is head to the side, pausing to listen and exclaiming “Choppers!” to be followed by the sound of helicopters.

Army helicopters were critical for evacuating the sick and wounded from the front to a MASH unit ambulance during the Korean War. (Image courtesy http://www.koreanwar60.com/army)

The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), 1960-2010: a 50th Anniversary Photographic History is a lean coffee table book organized by decade. The black and white and color photographs tell the story of AFRIMS – a medical military partnership between the United Sates and Thailand that was founded in response to a cholera epidemic in Thailand in 1959. Within 10 years, a laboratory was built and AFRIMS established the reputation of being a major force in tropical medical research. In the 1970s, the lab played a crucial role in researching and developing treatment for tropical diseases inflicting the military serving in the Vietnam War.

Technology advancements in the 1980s were adapted by AFRIMS and helped with storing and organizing research. In the 1990s and the first decade of the new century, AFRIMS conducted trials impacting the research on vaccines for hepatitis A, malaria, and HIV. The photographs are very compelling and effectively share history while showing the way they conducted research and interacted with the Thai community.

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About the author: Our guest blogger is Emma Wojtowicz, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Office of Public Affairs.

Additional images and content provided by Government Book Talk Editor Michele Bartram is Promotions and Ecommerce Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division in Washington, DC, and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (http://bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.